1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical switching devices designed for use in automobiles or other vehicles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have been numerous previous inventions for electrical switching devices designed for use in vehicles, but there are none in the prior art that are equivalent to the present invention, which is a switching device that can control a vehicle""s radio, without cutting into the wiring of the vehicle or the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,345, issued on Apr. 25, 1989, to William M. Stevens, discloses a portable automobile light, with a special adapter so that a fuse in the automobile fuse box may be removed, then the fuse is plugged into a special fuse holder with lead wires terminating in a spade type connector that will plug into the fuse box, with a third wire leading to one side of the spade type connector, and thence to a charging unit. The special fuse holder then plugs back to put the original fuse in its circuit. The instant invention is distinguishable, in that it diverts power from a car radio to power a cell phone.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,050, issued on Nov. 28, 1989, to Emmett L. Kozel, discloses a blade terminal tap fuse, by which power may be drawn from an automobile""s fuse box to power a telephone, radio, or other electrical device. The instant invention is distinguishable, in that it allows existing fuses to be installed at a different location, rather than substituting tap fuses.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,855, issued on Jun. 30, 1992, to Dennis L. Brooks, discloses a vehicle fuse block extension, which plugs into a fuse block to extend contacts a short distance in one direction. The instant invention is distinguishable, in that it requires fuses to be removed to a new location, and allows more distant contacts in different directions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,214, issued on Jun. 28, 1994, to Andre A. De Castro, discloses a blade type fuse block terminal adapter, by which an auxiliary device may be powered from an automobile fuse box. The instant invention is distinguishable, in that it provides an alternative fuse holder remote from the fuse box.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,585, issued on Jul. 11, 1995, to Eagle Fan, discloses a car circuit adapter, using a car cigarette lighter. The instant invention is distinguishable, in that it does require power from a cigarette lighter.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,428, issued on Aug. 22, 1995, to Francis L. Carr and George P. Canell, discloses a fuseholder for receiving portions of a pair of in-line electrical conductors which may be connected to a nonfused electrical adapter plug. The instant invention is distinguishable, in providing a new location for a fuse, and leads to an electrical device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,396, issued on Dec. 19, 1995, to Andre A. De Castro, discloses an automobile blade type fuse block terminal adapter, which is a different version of the invention in U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,214 to same inventor, discussed above.
Japanese Pat. No. 11-260237, published on Sep. 24, 1999, invented by Kazuo Miyajima and Wataru Suehiro, discloses a fuse extracting jig for a multi-fuse and adapter.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.
The present invention is a switching apparatus and method designed to control a car radio or other device with only one connection to the vehicle and with no modification to the original wiring. (However, the scope of the invention is not limited to vehicles.) In the first preferred embodiment it is used to power a cell phone or other device from the line to the car radio. In either the first or second preferred embodiment, the power to the radio is cut off when the cell phone is in use. The fuse in the fuse box for the car radio is replaced with a dummy fuse. That fuse is then inserted into an in-line fuse holder, which offers the same protection as the original configuration. A connector on each leg of the output from the dummy fuse can supply power to the cell phone. Two connectors are used to assure that power will be supplied to a connector, because only one may have voltage due to the open dummy fuse. A third connector may be plugged, into one of the other connectors for powering of hand free cellular phones that may be independently fused. Leads coming from the invention may be connected to a relay or other switching device to turn on or off a car audio system or other device that might require this type of switching.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a means for automatically turning off a car radio when a cell phone is in use.
It is another object of the invention to provide a means for diverting power from a car radio to a cell phone.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a means for automatically turning off any first device when any second device is in use.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a means for diverting power from any first device to any second device.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.